Welcome to Wednesday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.
WEDNESDAY’S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:
NHL: Bruins at Rangers, 8 p.m. (NBCSN)
NBA: Nuggets at Celtics, 7:30 p.m. (CSNNE)
NBA: Bulls at Rockets, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
NBA: Mavericks at Warriors, 10:30 p.m. (ESPN)
College basketball: Temple at South Florida, 6:30 p.m. (ESPNews)
College basketball: East Carolina at UConn, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
College basketball: Georgia Tech at Duke, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
College basketball: Marquette at Villanova, 7 p.m. (FS1)
College basketball: VCU at George Mason, 7 p.m. (CBSSN)
College basketball: TCU at Baylor, 8:30 p.m. (ESPNews)
College basketball: Providence at Georgetown, 9 p.m. (CBSSN)
College basketball: Washington at Oregon, 9 p.m. (ESPN2)
College basketball: Kansas State at Texas Tech, 9 p.m. (ESPNU)
College basketball: Creighton at Xavier, 9 p.m. (FS1)
College football: National signing day, 8 a.m. (ESPNU)
Soccer: FA Cup, Liverpool at Bolton, 2:30 p.m. (FS1)
AROUND THE WEB:
Aaron Hernandez stands accused of orchestrating the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd. (Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
— A juror in the Aaron Hernandez trial was dismissed Tuesday by the judge, who said there was evidence that the woman had previously expressed a concern about the lack of a murder weapon, discussed several items of evidence the court has ruled inadmissible, showed an early interest in participating on the jury, and attended more Patriots games than she claimed on her questionnaire.
Judge Susan Garsh stopped the trial and held a 90-minute closed-door hearing before removing the juror and trimming the jury pool to 17 (12 jurors will decide Hernandez’s fate).
“Discharge of the juror is indeed in the best interest of justice,” Garsh announced to the courtroom in Fall River.
Hernandez is being tried for orchestrating the 2013 shooting death of Odin Lloyd, a semipro football player who had been dating Hernandez’s fiancee’s sister. That woman, Shaneah Jenkins, testified later Tuesday that she went to the North Attleboro home where her sister and Hernandez lived hours after learning of Lloyd’s death. Crying on the witness stand, she recounted seeing Hernandez that day and hearing him tell her it would get better with time.
“[He] asked me if I was OK, put his hand on my shoulder, told me he’d been through this death thing before,” she said, noting that he then left.
Jenkins said her sister, Shayanna Jenkins, who has a 2-year-old daughter with Hernandez, acted secretive that day. She said Shayanna received text messages and phone calls, and at one point took a folded-up trash bag to the basement, returned and asked to borrow Shaneah’s car.
Shayanna Jenkins has appeared in court behind Hernandez, but she was absent Tuesday.
— Falcons owner Arthur Blank made no attempt to hide the fact that his team piped in fake crowd noise during games, and he said he’s not happy about it.
The NFL has been investigating to determine if the Falcons used artificial crowd noise. A report is expected in a couple of weeks, but Blank removed any doubt, and he made it clear that he considers it a black-and-white issue.
“It’s not really a fine line. I think what we’ve done in 2013 and 2014 was wrong,” Blank told The Associated Press. “Anything that affects the competitive balance and fairness on the field, we’re opposed to, as a league, as a club and as an owner. It’s obviously embarrassing but beyond embarrassing it doesn’t represent our culture and what we’re about.
The team could be punished with a fine or loss of a draft pick if found to have used the fake crowd noise while an opposing team was in its huddle or calling a play.
“We’ve got some information internally,” Blank said of the investigation. “Not all, clearly, until we see the full report. But we’ve dealt with it internally the best we can, which was limited because we haven’t seen the report.
“We’ve gotten some information from the league but until we read the full report and until they publish their findings, we can’t be totally clear. We’ve talked to a lot of people and we’ve cooperated and we’ll be anxious to read the report.”
— Charlie Sifford, the first black golfer to join the PGA Tour, died Tuesday night at the age of 92, the PGA announced.
The PGA rescinded its Caucasian-only clause in 1961 after Sifford challenged it. He won the Greater Hartford Open in 1967, the Los Angeles Open in 1969 and the Senior PGA Championship in 1975. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004, and last year he became the third golfer ever to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Early in his career, he rose above racist behavior including slurs and death threats to become a pioneer in his sport.
“His love of golf, despite many barriers in his path, strengthened him as he became a beacon for diversity in our game,” PGA of America president Derek Sprague said. “By his courage, Dr. Sifford inspired others to follow their dreams. Golf was fortunate to have had this exceptional American in our midst.”
ON THIS DAY TRIVIA (answer below): On Feb. 4, 1990, which Bruin became the 32nd goaltender in NHL history with 200 victories following a 3-2 victory over the Quebec Nordiques?
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “It was very quick how all that stuff transpired. And that’s football. We’ve been on the other end of that. Things that would happen once every 10 years happened against us. So it’s nice that it actually goes our way.” — Tom Brady, during his weekly appearance on Dennis & Callahan, recapping the wild finish to Sunday’s Super Bowl
STAT OF THE DAY: 900 — Career victories for UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma, who reached the milestone faster than any other college basketball coach in history, in just his 1,034th game — a 96-36 rout of Cincinnati
‘NET RESULTS (mobile users, check the website to see the videos): David Letterman has the top 10 excuses for Pete Carroll‘s play call in the final seconds of the Super Bowl. No. 1: “Wanted to remember what it felt like to coach the Jets.”
Dan Patrick takes Colin Cowherd to task for criticizing Patrick’s work ethic.
Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard dunks on Jazz big man Rudy Gobert.
Kings forward Ben McLemore spins on the baseline and throws down a big-time dunk vs. the Warriors.
TRIVIA ANSWER: Reggie Lemelin
SOOTHING SOUNDS: Florence LaRue of The 5th Dimension was born on this day in 1944. (She’s on the left in this video).